We are in the middle of moving a small office, and after loading stuff on the truck, the mover changed the price form $250 to $500. The price was a verbal quote (we did not sign anything), but the number of hours they spent (3 hours) on the job was just as initially agreed, so they did not do more work or ran into anything unexpected.

What can be done to force them to go back to the original price? Any credible threats I could use (nothing illegal though)? It is ironic that no one would dare to pull such a stunt in the "lawless" Eastern Europe, where I used to live a while ago, but here in the land of law they can do it looking you straight in the eye.

The money is not that important, but I just hate being had by some lowlife scumbag...

Yeah Lesson learned. This happens all the time. You always agree on a price and you should make sure they have insurance. They should have a list of what they are moving and you should get a COI showing they are insuring any damages to the stuff they are moving. You agree to a price before hand. This is also the reason you shop around.

Pay up... and make sure you handle things the proper way next time. It also helps to go through reputable companies that don't post their numbers on telephone poles.

__________________

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not."
-André Gide

Not much you can do at this point, this is a well known scam in the moving world, these guys come in give you a low ball quote and once your stuff is on the truck they tell you it is going to cost more. Most time they do not tell you until they do not show to make the delivery. When you call them they deliver the bad new, you have to pay more to have them show up with your stuff. Keep in mind even if you pay them now, there is no guarantee they will show with your stuff at the other end they may still call and ask for more.

Had a friend move from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and he hire these scab movers from NY, well they loaded up his stuff, he paid them 2K up front of the 4K they said it was going to cost. Told him the truck will be in Atlanta in 2 days. 2 days come and go and no truck, calls the moving company and they tell him it will cost him 10K Cash no checks to get his stuff. To make this short: truck when back to NY, he called the Police in Atlanta and NY, told there was not much they could do, Call the Feds, since it inter-state trucking, said not much they could do. They told him they would destroy his stuff if he did not pay, A month later he gets his stuff after paying another 5K, had the police there when they arrive attempted to have them arrested, no go, were not the guys who actually loaded the truck, just some local guys they hire to make the delivery.

Thanks. The matter is resolved now. Apparently one our employee did sign something without reading carefully enough through a tricky list of extra charges. After re-reading the small print, we got them to knock down $100 and reported them for trying to avoid sales tax (which they were stupid enough to do after screwing us) after they left.

Not sure if that will cause any consequences for them, but if it does that will be enough of a lesson for both parties. I had probably over two dozen moves over the last 10 years, and that's the first time this happened. Live and learn.

However, you need a receipt of some kind to prove your case. They will come down and interview you. Anytime someone gets wind of a company avoiding sales tax, it is taken VERY seriously. Make sure you have proof that they did the work for you.

__________________

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not."
-André Gide

Hmm...we don't charge sales tax on labor nor can I remember being charged it explicitly. Parts obviously, but not labor

Do you remit sales tax to the state? As in you advertise a HVAC tuneup at $200 + any necessary parts. No parts were used so you charge the person the $200 for labor then (assuming a 6% tax) remit $12 to the state leaving revenue of $188?

Do you remit sales tax to the state? As in you advertise a HVAC tuneup at $200 + any necessary parts. No parts were used so you charge the person the $200 for labor then (assuming a 6% tax) remit $12 to the state leaving revenue of $188?

Yea we pay the tax, but it's not explicitly charged to the customer. I guess if they really wanted to know, I could tell them how much of their bill was taxes, but it's not a line item nor have I ever seen it that way...just sorta curious how OP would know they're evading taxes...just cuz it wasn't stated separately doesn't mean anyone is evading anything...

Yea we pay the tax, but it's not explicitly charged to the customer. I guess if they really wanted to know, I could tell them how much of their bill was taxes, but it's not a line item nor have I ever seen it that way...just sorta curious how OP would know they're evading taxes...

You could probably increase revenues by not doing it that way. Charge them the full $200 for labor then have a line item with the sales tax. People expect tax when they go to buy something so it's not like some hidden fee you'd be slapping them with. Depending on whatever the tax rate is where you are you could potentially increase revenue by that much because right now it's almost like your business is eating the tax instead of passing it on to the consumer.

Movers do this quite often. Moved the in laws from BC to Cali a few years ago. Got a written quote etc.. When they showed up they wanted X + for the final payment. Since one of them is handicapped we needed their stuff now so I got on the phone with them and we worked it out. I paid the difference on my CC and cancelled the payment after they left they obviously called and threatened us and we just turned it over to the authorities never heard about it again. Sucks but sometime lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned for life.